Weeks ago I asked the Northern Lights on a date, and she accepted. However, she (the aurora) and the weather have both been, respectively, flaky and annoying. Three nights already I've been in the north of Scandinavia, and for three nights, no date with the magical aurora: a sight so majestic that even the most jaded traveller will fall in love. Tromsø, Senja, and now Narvik have been unkind as far as the weather, but weeks ago a girl wrote in her blog "the best place to see the aurora in Norway is in Sweden." It's already cold here, and the further inland you go, the colder it gets. That's the price you pay to have a date with the aurora...
It was -4°C in Narvik but in Abisko, Sweden the thermometer is at a bone-chlling -14°C. I didn't care; a date with the aurora would be like one with a sexy Swedish lass. The sky was clear, the stars were out, my camera batteries were charged, my tea thermal was filled with hot chocolate, and my time was now. I donned my Antarctica parka, put on three extra layers, and stuck my icy thumb out toward Abisko not giving a damn how cold it was. Two lifts would get me just across the border into Sweden, and then a pretty Swedish lady named Suzanne would pick me up. Less than five minutes after we arrived at Abisko, she pointed out the aurora! My date with the Northern Lights has finally come. Very quickly I wanted to run into the supermarket before they closed because I had some Swedish kronor I wanted to get rid of. Despite being -14°C outside they don't sell hot drinks. They don't sell wine but I picked up a Swedish beer called Pripps Blå. I had to remember to store it in my jacket pocket next to my body because carbonated drinks will explode when it's this cold.
From there I power-walked toward the lakefront, got my tripod out and set my camera up. Tears of joy in my eyes, I watched the Northern Lights dance magically above my head. What an impressive sight! It's amazing how they move so quickly.
This looks something like releasing a genie in a bottle. A man from Hong Kong was photographing the aurora near me and he helped me get the settings right for a masterful photo. He set the shutter on 10 seconds and then used his phone torch to get a bit of light on me.
I don't know if it's just me, or do my travels really get better and better as I get older? It turned out I arrived just in time because heavy cloud cover rolled in only about 30 minutes after the aurora danced.
Getting here was easy, but getting back to Narvik proved to be tricky even with frigid toes, and it was so cold I could feel icicles forming on my nostrils. I had to hang round Abisko for more than an hour and then walk a bit, and then was picked up by a girl heading to Riksgransen, only 2 km from the border. Having to wait awhile, I'd get picked up by a guy who would drop me right at Jimmy's door. We'd be up into the wee hours discussing my time with the dancing lights. Is it worth it to hitchhike when it's -14 for a date with the aurora? Absolutely! Tonight I fulfilled yet another lifelong dream, and I eagerly await my next date with the sexy aurora.
